Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm building a new Chaos Space Marines army and was wondering what were the best Anti-Tank units - obviously there are a few options in the codex, just wanted to know what worked best/how they compared to one another??

Thanks for any advice you can give!!

My girlfriend plays CSM, and she goes for a Nurgle theme. What works well for her are Obliterators, which are arguably one of the best heavy support options in the codex. Tough as nails, and they're very versatile in what guns they shoot. She also fields Havocs with lascannons, which are basically just space marine devastators, so they're about as effective as that. There's also Nurgle Bikers with melta guns. They move fast, tough as balls, get up close to a vehicle and just bust it open.

Oblis are the obvious answer. As an addition to that you could field Quad-Lascannon-Havocs or a Forgefiend with Hades autocannons, which either excel in exploding or stripping hull points from the vehicle. Also we can get meltaguns on some fast and pretty durable platforms, for example Raptors, the aforementioned bikes and deepstriking Terminators.

All this comes pretty much down to your opinion so you should test some of the options and see what works for you.

I have always had a weakness for Laspreds and Havoc squads with full lascannons.

But I think the best unit for tank killing, right now, is Chosen with 5 plasma guns. When they get in close, it's pretty hard to stop them from blowing things up.

If you want to go beyond the Codex, Chaos Contemptor dreadnoughts or Relic Predators with conversion beamers are outstanding options for taking out something from across the board. Keep in mind they are no good up close, tho.

 techsoldaten wrote:
I have always had a weakness for Laspreds and Havoc squads with full lascannons.

But I think the best unit for tank killing, right now, is Chosen with 5 plasma guns. When they get in close, it's pretty hard to stop them from blowing things up.

If you want to go beyond the Codex, Chaos Contemptor dreadnoughts or Relic Predators with conversion beamers are outstanding options for taking out something from across the board. Keep in mind they are no good up close, tho.

Yeah, the Predator Tank is good choice at Anti-tank, or even Anti-infantry, depending on how you wanna kit it out. But either way you do, it gets it job done pretty well.

Great - thanks guys!! I wasn't sure if Oblits were meant to be worth their points!!

I think I'm going to avoid Havocs and Preds, simply because I don't like them!! But I think Bikes will be the first choice!!

Again, thanks a lot!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And the main fear was Land Raiders - so plasma wouldn't be of any use

My brother uses melta armed bikers for his anti-tank and it works pretty good for him.

NathanD298 wrote:
Great - thanks guys!! I wasn't sure if Oblits were meant to be worth their points!!

I think I'm going to avoid Havocs and Preds, simply because I don't like them!! But I think Bikes will be the first choice!!

Again, thanks a lot!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And the main fear was Land Raiders - so plasma wouldn't be of any use

Yeah, Oblits with either Mark of Tzeentch or Mark of Nurgle are pretty tough to kill, and more cost effective than terminators. Plus, I dunno if you wanna stay away from it or not, but check out Crimson Slaughter. My girlfriend uses a Chaos Sorcerer with Divination in a unit of Oblits, so now your Oblits are either Twin Linked, Ignore Cover, force rerolling saves, or any number of things.

krodarklorr wrote:

NathanD298 wrote:
Great - thanks guys!! I wasn't sure if Oblits were meant to be worth their points!!

I think I'm going to avoid Havocs and Preds, simply because I don't like them!! But I think Bikes will be the first choice!!

Again, thanks a lot!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And the main fear was Land Raiders - so plasma wouldn't be of any use

Yeah, Oblits with either Mark of Tzeentch or Mark of Nurgle are pretty tough to kill, and more cost effective than terminators. Plus, I dunno if you wanna stay away from it or not, but check out Crimson Slaughter. My girlfriend uses a Chaos Sorcerer with Divination in a unit of Oblits, so now your Oblits are either Twin Linked, Ignore Cover, force rerolling saves, or any number of things.

Thanks for the tip, but I'm making a Nurgle army because I just love the idea of them, so I won't be going for Crimson Slaughter!! I think primarily I'll use bikes, and then maybe move on to a squad of Nurgle Oblits!!

Thanks for the tip, but I'm making a Nurgle army because I just love the idea of them, so I won't be going for Crimson Slaughter!! I think primarily I'll use bikes, and then maybe move on to a squad of Nurgle Oblits!!

krodarklorr wrote:
Thanks for the tip, but I'm making a Nurgle army because I just love the idea of them, so I won't be going for Crimson Slaughter!! I think primarily I'll use bikes, and then maybe move on to a squad of Nurgle Oblits!!

Well, Crimson Slaughter isn't god-specific, it's just some new rules and wargear mostly. My girlfriend still uses everything with the MoN.

Oh really?? I honestly immediately presumed it was God-specific (Khorne in my head for some reason ) Maybe I'll look in to it!!

NathanD298 wrote:

krodarklorr wrote:
Thanks for the tip, but I'm making a Nurgle army because I just love the idea of them, so I won't be going for Crimson Slaughter!! I think primarily I'll use bikes, and then maybe move on to a squad of Nurgle Oblits!!

Well, Crimson Slaughter isn't god-specific, it's just some new rules and wargear mostly. My girlfriend still uses everything with the MoN.

Oh really?? I honestly immediately presumed it was God-specific (Khorne in my head for some reason ) Maybe I'll look in to it!!

Yeah, that's what me and my girlfriend thought at first, but it's just a specific Warband of marines. You can still take whatever marks you want and everything.

Practically the entire codex comes with krak grenades for free, and krak grenades are great against everything but fliers and land raiders. And they come on models that you're going to want to be getting into close combat anyways. And they're extra great against parking lots where you can multi-charge.

The question, really, is less one of what's the best anti-tank, and more of why you're having problems against tanks in the first place.

If you really got to have something, then, yeah, oblits are pretty good, but I like terminators with combi-meltas a bit better because terminators fill that elite slot role more efficiently. You could go HS with havocs or preds, and they're not bad, but they're also not going to be charging up the table like the rest of your army, which is what gives those deepstriking units an edge.

I use the crimson slaughter dex for my purge - inspired army. The rules are just flat out better unless you want everything to have voltw. Sorcerer and forgefiend works well. Daemonforge and divination means reroll hit, reroll wound and reroll armour pen. Plus the relics are awesome, nurgle bike lord with 2+, t6, iwnd and 4++, fist and claw, horns give furious charge and rage as well.

Termies, raptors and bikes with melta/combimelta are your best bet for dealing with armor quickly at an affordable price. If you're expecting a ton of dangerous enemy vehicles, consider a bastion with comm relay to hole up in, and a bunch of raptor, obliterator and termie squads in reserve to deepstrike on the board and turn all his stuff to ash.

Obliterators. You can DS where you need them, and once the enemy has no armour left they're still useful, unlike a laspred or las-havocs or those terminators that have already been killed after shooting 3 melta shots.

Kronk loves obliterators.

2 units of 2 or even 3 will blow gak up nicely.

Another vote for Oblits. Another option particularly viable if you're going Nurgle-themed is a Lord on a bike with a Powerfist for your HQ, although then you're probably going to want a whole squad of bikers to back him up.

 Ailaros wrote:
Practically the entire codex comes with krak grenades for free, and krak grenades are great against everything but fliers and land raiders. And they come on models that you're going to want to be getting into close combat anyways. And they're extra great against parking lots where you can multi-charge.

The question, really, is less one of what's the best anti-tank, and more of why you're having problems against tanks in the first place.

If you really got to have something, then, yeah, oblits are pretty good, but I like terminators with combi-meltas a bit better because terminators fill that elite slot role more efficiently. You could go HS with havocs or preds, and they're not bad, but they're also not going to be charging up the table like the rest of your army, which is what gives those deepstriking units an edge.

I'm not having problems, seeing as I've never played Chaos and am only just starting out - it was so I could focus my spending!!

Thanks everyone I'll be looking in to some Oblits soon (Well alternative models to customise at least, not touching those models )

Oh. In which case, my advice is "don't worry about it".

If you have the ability to take down monstrous creatures, you likely have the ability to take down tanks. Throw around some meltaguns and meltabombs and you'll probably be all right. Start thinking about dedicated anti-tank only if you're finding that you're having problems with it.

I'll vouch for Crimson Slaughter rule set. They're pretty wicked.

Obliterators have in the past been my go to for anti tank. Recently, I've been experimenting around. I gotta say, Draznicht's Chosen (Crimson Slaughter) loaded out with Plasma can really put the hurt on. That Preferred Enemy really comes in handy.